Tag Archives: psykhe

We have little control of our fates, at best. There are daily things that we can choose our not, but so much Big Stuff is simply out of our hands — that’s just the way it is, Psykhe weaves our threads in the tapestry of eternity as she will.

Some of us, are occasionally offered a fork: the fibres split, and for a fragment of a second, we can walk along this piece or that one, before joining the rest of the thread. Only you and She notice this tiniest imperfection in the tapestry of eternity, but She can’t take it apart to fix it — it would do too much damage. So we live with it, knowing that for that millimetre or two, we had the tiniest choice of which fibre to follow, andwhat seemed all laid out for metre after metre suddenly gave us an option.

I’m not sure where to go, from here, but I know there isn’t much time before She pushes me along my thread.

…but I love the kitcshy metallic decorative trees, I do, and adapting to the local ways is, at least to some extent, a part of the ancient tradition —and for certain definitions to “local”, kitsch is very much a part of U.S. culture that I can respect (just look at how many John Waters films I inflict on unsuspecting friends). So I adapt the kitschy tree to celebrate the new year, and reflect my Boeotian and Hedonist religion.

I pick out my ornaments very carefully: Birds for Eros, Butterflies for Psykhe, and Jewels for Hedone. The colours are a little less meaningful; purple is my favourite colour, and I’ve come to associate blues with Eros, and the two compliment each-other well. The arrangement is also made with an aesthetic quality in mind (and frankly, while I liked making cheesy little ornaments as a kid, I always HATED the appearance of the typical “family tree”, with a lot of sentimental ornaments, and no sense of appearance in mind –I remember asking my mother several times why we didn’t have those gorgeous, colour-themed trees decorated with gossamer ribbons and coordinated ornaments in the displays at the stores and in some magazines, and she never gave me a straight answer and always added “when you grow up and get your own tree, you can decorate it however you like”. Good. I will. And it’ll be a better tree! With blackjack! And hookers!)

There are some things in the description on the crowdfunding page and website that I can quibble with, mythologically speaking (Aphrodite as Eros’ mother AND lover? Er… And really, do I have to spell out for hard polytheists [who I’m assuming is the majority of my readers here] the folly of Joseph Campbell’s allegedly “universal” myth archetypes, and how this can sorely limit the impact and meaning of the story itself —while I can see the Psykhe mythos as fulfilling some, possibly even many aspects of the Hero’s Journey, to force Her tale into that mould tends to miss some marks of varying importance), but this looks like it’s bound to be a better effort than the Xanadu stage musical (which actually fails its Hellenic mythology WAY more than the original film, which actually recognises the Moisai as being born on Mt, Helikon, not Olympos, for starters)

Judging my the text on both sites, I’m assuming the sample music in this pitch video is just a rough cut of the music in the opera. I really don’t like the main female voice I’m hearing throughout this —she’s kinda “tinny” and strained, which reminds me of Sarah Brightman, and not in a good way1. On the other hand, I do like everything else I’m hearing, so I hope this sample isn’t reflective of the casting choices.

If I had any money, I’d probably donate a little, but if you think this is worthy of your delicious monies, feel free to give a little to their project.

1: As a classically trained singer, myself, I really dislike Brightman’s voice —and as some-one with a background, and even family background in opera, Brightman is the last choice for any director to put in something operatic. If you can’t project your voice with your own physical talents, and not a microphone, you are NOT an operatic singer. But then again, she mainly has the career she does cos ALW has been boning her for years, and everybody deserving of the very much earned title of Theatre Geek knows it. That said, I have a couple of Brightman’s pop records, cos she’s really just a pop singer and so that’s where she excells.

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I'm Ruadhán Quentin Jarman-McElroy and I'm a musician, writer, artist, and Hellenic polytheist. I've so far penned two novels, Simple Man and New Dance, the latter being the first book in a series called The Mod Stories. I maintain a polytheist / pagan blog (linked below).
I make music (choral singer since 1986, solo recitalist since 1988; viola player since 1989, experimental sounds and sound collage since 2005, harmonium since 2016). Dark Cabaret / proto-goth singer as simply Ruadhán, experimental and sound collage as This Is Where the Fish Lives.